Author: Karabekian Emil

RUSSIAN AMBASSADOR TO ARMENIA: "STATEMENTS OF SUPPLY OF THE RUSSIAN MILITARY HARDWARE OF A TOTAL OF $800,000,000 TO ARMENIA ARE FALSE"

Today.Az
itics/50513.html
Feb 5 2009
Azerbaijan

"The statements about supply of the Russian military hardware of
a total of $800,000,000 to Armenia are false", said ambassador
extraordinary and plenipotentiary of Russia to Armenia Nikolai Pavlov.

I do not comment on such senseless statements", said Pavlov at a press
conference in the international press center "Novosti" speaking about
the alleged supply of the Russian military hardware to Armenia.

Azerbaijani mass medias reported that Russia military hardware of a
total of $800,000,000 was supplied to Armenia from Russian military
base No 102. Official Baku sent the due note to Russia.

On January 21 in a response note the Russian Foreign Ministry refuted
information in Azerbaijani mass medias about supplies of Russian
military hardware to Armenia in 2008.

The note also says that this publication is disinformation against
Russia, which does not promote positive development of friendly
Russian-Azerbaijani relations.

The Russian Foreign Ministry also voiced hope that the Azerbaijani
Foreign Ministry will be able to inform the public and mass medias
of the country about Russia’s position.

ARMENIA PLANS A NEW AIRPORT

The Messenger
Jan 3 2009
Georgia

The Armenian PM has ordered the appropriate bodies to carry out a
feasibility study for building a new airport to satisfy the needs of
forwarding companies and airlines.

This idea has come about because many foreign airlines refuse to
use Gumry airport when Zvartnoc-Yerevan airport is closed due to
bad weather, which unfortunately happens quite often. Gumry airport
is in the mountains and many international pilots refuse to land
there. Therefore the planes land in Turkey or Georgia rather than
Armenia. The latter has offered to train overseas pilots to land
planes in the mountains but no one has yet responded to this offer.

To find an appropriate site for a new airport, develop a project and
construct it will take at least five years, it is believed. However
Armenia is also considering creating an economic zone around Yerevan
International Airport to encourage further traffic.

RESUME OF THE WEEK’S EVENTS: PACE, ZURICH AND ERDOGAN
by Karine Ter-Sahakyan

PanARMENIAN.Net
02.02.2009 GMT+04:00

European structures, and not only them, limit themselves to "fatherly
suggestions" that have long stopped to draw any interest, except for
the offended opposition of certain countries.

Past week was rather rich in political events. The world community
was concentrated on the winter session of the Parliamentary Assembly
of the Council of Europe (PACE) and on the World Economic Forum in
Davos. As expected, in PACE Armenian Delegation was not deprived of
the right to vote. Once more the decision proved that certain levers
of influencing on post-Soviet states are applied in Europe not only
with reservations, but with caution as well.

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ In fact, depriving a delegation of voting rights,
or other Â"lighterÂ" sanctions may simply put these countries on
a Â"wrongÂ" track. In our opinion, European as well as all the
international organizations follow exactly this policy and not the
infamous strategy of double standards. The policy of holding the
unstable states on a Â"short leashÂ" proved fairly effective not
solely for Armenia. If the Armenian Delegation were to be deprived of
voting rights, similar measures had to be applied against Azerbaijan
and Georgia too, not to mention the mass disorders in Greece late in
2008 that resulted in the death of a teenager and caused real chaos
in Athens. However sad it may be, European structures, and not only
them, limit themselves to Â"fatherly suggestionsÂ" that have long
stopped to draw any interest, except that of the offended opposition
in certain countries. The latter, like in Armenia, is guided by one
single policy – the worse the country feels, the better for us. And
who said that democracy is the best form of government? According to
Sir Winston Churchill, "Democracy is the worst form of government,
but unfortunately, all the others are so much the worse."

This week also marked the visit of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairs on
the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict regulation, as well as the meetings
in Zurich between the Armenian and Azerbaijani Foreign Ministers
and Presidents of the two countries. As expected, nothing new was
achieved – the same tiresome statements on Â"readiness to continue
talks according to Madrid proposalsÂ", Â"inadmissibility of a military
solution to the conflictÂ", Â"necessity to engage NKR representatives
in the regulation processÂ". All these statements sound discordant
against the background of the anti-Armenian rhetoric by Baku, though
everybody has already got accustomed to it. In our opinion, real
burst in the regulation process will occur only when these statements
are made seriously and sincerely. Let us remember that no conflict
has ever been settled in the world with purely good intentions and
"Cast Lead" is a vivid example of it.

And, surely enough, hit of the week, if we may put it so, was the
Davos demarche of Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan. This kind of actions
can be treated differently, but one thing is certain – leader of the
country, pretending on the position of the regional power, ought not to
behave like that. Moreover, Erdogan’s move was obviously well-thought
out and intentional. Most likely, it was a well-calculated act,
a signal to the Arab-Muslim world: "Look, Turkey is with you." But,
in fact, Erdogan is trying to increase the influence of his country
in the region, the shortest way to which is by exerting pressure on
Israel. The Israeli-Palestine conflict has been going on for dozens
of years and Turkey had never before criticized Israel so harshly
as during the operation in Gaza Strip. Erdogan’s act can be easily
interpreted by the state of domestic policy in Turkey, because, to all
appearances, the struggle between Islamists and Kemalists is coming
to the peak on the eve of the elections of local administration. It
is clear that now more than ever the Justice and Development Party of
Turkey (AKP) needs public support. Otherwise Erdogan may share the fate
of Adnan Menderes, Prime-Minister of Turkey, executed by Kemalists in
1961. Turkish Joint Staff has already announced about its readiness
to preserve strategic relations with Israel, especially in purchasing
military equipment. It means Turkish servicemen are against the AKP,
which, by the way, is not a novelty.

There exists also the Armenian factor in this matter. Only 2
months is left till April, and there is no guarantee that the
new US Administration will listen to the Jewish-Turkish lobby that
successfully torpedoes adoption of the resolution on the recognition
of the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Turkey in 1915-1923. In this
connection it was truly blasphemous to hear the Turkish Prime-Minister
addressing the Israeli President with the following words: "When it
comes to killing, you know well how to do it"…

In all probability, the demarche story will continue, but the question
is who Erdogan was on that day – a national hero or an imprudent
politician. As for the statements of Jewish organizations of the US,
they were quite predictable: fate of the Jews in Turkey, as well
as in any other country, against the background of almost total
anti-Semitism can’t but worry the Jewish Diaspora all over the world.

–Boundary_(ID_52orUZKsuYzeSQhC/71pZA)–

WILL SITUATION WORSEN?

A1+
[08:06 pm] 02 February, 2009

"New conflicts can be provoked in Armenia on March 1, 2009. We should
avert aggravation of antagonisms on all levels. The mystery of March
1 needs to be unveiled," Heritage Party member Raffi Hovannisian said
to A1+. He is convinced that the situation can be bettered by April.

Asked why he didn’t participate in the PACE winter session,
Mr. Hovannisian said: "My withdrawal was important, moreover, necessary
for Armenia." Then he added: "We shall never participate in a bargain
jeopardizing the country’s dignity and raising an offensive question,
"Shall we be punished or not? I am against all sanctions. At the same
time, I disagree to the path of democracy Armenia has taken. I feel
an urgent need of reforms," Raffi Hovannisian said with regard to the
activity of the Armenian delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of
the Council of Europe.

Armenia’s leadership and opposition should no longer waste time;
they should foster a dialogue based on a mutual consent.

Generally, Raffi Hovannisian welcomes PACE’s appeal to amend Articles
225 and 300 of Armenia’s Criminal Code. "Anyway, the articles do
not cover all political prisoners. Therefore we should overcome the
tragedy of March 1 with joint efforts, mourn over its consequences
and surmount this separatism."

"The other day Serzh Sargsyan was speaking of separatism,
permissiveness and mistrustfulness. Today I call on the third and first
Presidents and all political forces to start a real dialogue. They
should do their utmost to prevent the elaboration and adoption of a
new resolution during the April session."

Despite PACE resolutions and sanctions, Armenia must meet democratic
standards. For its part, the Council of Europe should bind its values
and principles to all its member states. Yes, there are political
prisoners in Armenia. There are political prisoners in Azerbaijan,
Georgia, and Turkey. Therefore I say the CoE should pose equal
standards to all countries.

With regard to the Co-rapporteurs’ report, Mr. Hovannisian said:
"Let’s recall the case of the PACE Co-rapporteurs on Azerbaijan. They
abused their position and supported anti-Armenian resolutions. This is
not excluded in the case of the Co-rapporteurs on Armenia. Therefore
I think PACE shouldn’t deploy its co-rapporteurs in the same country
for a long time. Mr. Hovannisian is likely to participate in the
spring session of the Parliamentary Assembly.

Interfax, Russia
Jan 28 2009

Ethnic Azeris demand change in Georgia’s political system

BAKU Jan 28

The National Assembly of Azeris in Georgia (NAAG) has demanded that
the Georgian leadership change the country’s political system, NAAG
president Dashgyn Gyulmamedov told Interfax.

"We demand that they create the Georgian confederation of constituent
regions populated by Georgians, Ossetians and Abkhazians.

Otherwise, the Georgian state will collapse," Gyulmamedov said.

"If the Georgian government does not heed to this demand, then in a
year the European Union, Russia and Turkey will take real action to
create such a confederation," he added.

The Azeris living in Georgia are not asking to be recognized as a
constituent region of the future confederation, Gyulmamedov said.

"Georgian Azeris live in 17 regions, forming communities in just four
of them. This is why part of the ethnic Azeri population could stay
outside an autonomy. Therefore this [an autonomy] is not in our
interests. Nor in Georgia’s interests," he said.

The only thing that Ethnic Azeris demand is an official status for
their language in Georgia, Gyulmamedov said. "We demand that the Azeri
language be made an official language to prevent its further
discrimination in Georgia," Gyulmamedov said.

Ethnic Azeris disapprove of the demand by Georgia’s ethnic Armenians
to give them an autonomy, the NAAG president also said.

TURKISH PM, ARMENIAN PRESIDENT HOLD USEFUL TALKS IN DAVOS

Hurriyet
Jan 30 2009
Turkey

Armenia’s president said Thursday he had "very useful" talks with
Turkey’s prime minister at the World Economic Forum in Davos,
Switzerland. (UPDATED)

Serzh Sargsyan said he had a "positive signal" Turkish Prime Minister
Tayyip Erdogan during rare talks between the two neighbors.

"I’ve seen a willingness of the prime minister to solve our issues. I
think this is a positive signal," Sargsyan was quoted by AP as
telling reporters.

Sarkisian would not give details about the talks which took place
minutes after Erdogan stormed out of an angry debate on the Gaza war
with Israel’s President Shimon Peres at the Davos forum.

The Armenian presidency also said on Friday the meeting was
"positive". "President Sargsyan and Prime Minister Erdogan considered
their first meeting as positive and charged the foreign ministers of
both countries to put additional efforts into normalizing relations,"
AFP quoted the presidency as saying in a statement.

Turkey and Armenia have no diplomatic relations and their border
has been closed for more than a decade, as Armenia presses the
international community with the backing of the diaspora to admit
the so-called "genocide" claims instead of accepting Turkey’s call
to investigate the allegations, and Armenia’s invasion of 20 percent
territory of Azerbaijan.

A warmer period began in relations when Turkish President Abdullah
Gul paid a landmark visit to Yerevan in September to watch a World Cup
qualifying football match between the two countries on the invitation
of Sargsyan. The two countries have been holding contacts at the
minister level since.

POINT OF PROSECUTOR APPOINTMENTS UNCLEAR

Today’s Zaman
Jan 29 2009
Turkey

The Supreme Board of Prosecutors and Judges’ (HSYK) assignment of new
prosecutors on Tuesday to the Ä°stanbul Prosecutor’s Office, assigned
to handle the Ergenekon trial, an investigation into a clandestine
terrorist organization charged with various crimes staged for the
ultimate purpose of triggering a military coup, has caused controversy
and confusion in political and judicial circles.

The HSYK announced late on Tuesday that three new prosecutors would be
assigned to the Ergenekon case, an investigation in which 86 suspects
are currently standing trial for various charges. Other suspected
members, including military officers on active duty, have also been
detained pending indictment.

Analysts have commented that there might be a conspiratorial motive
behind the appointments since they come only two weeks after Aydınlık
— a publication issued by the Worker’ Party (Ä°P), whose chairman
and other administrators are accused of membership in Ergenekon —
printed an article titled, "Appeal to the HSYK: Assign real prosecutors
to the case." In its Jan. 18, 2009 issue, Aydınlık published an
article complaining about Zekeriya Oz, the chief prosecutor of the
case. The article commented that "judicial circles would like to see
the HSYK assign experienced jurists to the investigation."

Justice Ministry officials say six authorized prosecutors are
working on the Ergenekon trial, a situation that has caused a lack
of prosecutors for other cases handled by the Ä°stanbul Prosecutor’s
Office. İstanbul Deputy Chief Prosecutor Turan Colakkadı last week
announced that some appointments would be made but noted that the
Prosecutor’s Office would be deciding what case each prosecutor was
assigned to. According to this interpretation, the new prosecutors
might not be working on the Ergenekon case, but, as of yesterday,
it was not clear what the exact role of the new prosecutors would be.

"Konya Just Jurists’ Association [KaDenge] is concerned that the
investigation might end in a decision that would not satisfy public
consciousness through certain statements and interventions," said
KaDenge President Erhan Å~^ahin, expressing that he is concerned the
move might be followed by yet another move to replace the prosecutors.

"We don’t even want to think about what these appointments have
anything to do with the Ergenekon trial. Assigning prosecutors to a
case next to prosecutors who are already conducting the case is only
about watering down the case.

If this appointment is indeed about Ergenekon, it would really go
beyond its purpose," said Ä°dris Å~^ahin, head of the Cankırı
Bar Association.

"The Turkish nation trusts the prosecutor on the case and so should the
HSYK," said Yusuf BaÅ~_er, head of the Yozgat Bar association. "If the
prosecutors assigned will be working under the orders of Zekeriya Oz,
there will not be too many problems. In the opposite case, the trial
would be watered down."

Tokat Bar Association President Faruk Bostancı said: "We don’t know
if these prosecutors will be assigned to the Ergenekon trial. If this
was done to close an inadequacy in the prosecutor’s office, there’s
nothing wrong with this appointment. But if they are involved in the
Ergenekon investigation, that would be absolutely wrong."

Attempts to influence judiciary

Many jurists say recent statements by Judges and Prosecutors Union
(YARSAV) head Omer Faruk Eminagaoglu and former Supreme Court
of Appeals Chief Prosecutor Sabih Kanadoglu, favoring different
prosecutors, might have had an influence on the HSYK. These statements
and the Aydınlık article are seen as an attempt to influence the
judiciary. However, not everybody agrees. Former Chief Prosecutor
ReÅ~_at Petek commented on the decision, saying: "Judges don’t make
decisions based on articles published in a journal. They behave
according to the law." He also said he didn’t think the HSYK would
take demands for assigning new prosecutors to the case seriously
as long as there was solid evidence against the current prosecutor
being involved in any wrongdoing. He said the law also called for
keeping the prosecutor in charge of a gang-related case on the same
investigation for at least four years.

Yılmaz GeniÅ~_, chairman of the Bogazici Lawyers’ Association,
agreed, saying: "It is obvious that such publications are trying to
put pressure on the judiciary. Such publications have the purpose
of spreading disinformation in the society. The HSYK is independent;
we don’t think it will yield to such pressure."

Jurists’ Association head Kamil Ugur Yaralı also said he believed
the assignments were being misinterpreted. "If Prosecutor Zekeriya
Oz is taken off the team, this should be seen as intervention. There
is a media group trying to influence public opinion with false news
stories. But when one looks at the entirety of the events, everything
is in accordance with the law."

HSYK assignments to the prosecutor’s office

The HSYK noted on its Web site yesterday that prosecutors Rasim
IÅ~_ıkaltın, Kasım Ä°limoglu and Mustafa CavuÅ~_oglu were assigned
to the Ä°stanbul Prosecutor’s Office and given the status of specially
authorized prosecutors. IÅ~_ıkaltın is known for an investigation
into Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan while Erdogan served as
mayor of Ä°stanbul.

The former Supreme Court of Appeals chief prosecutor had ruled in
the investigation into Erdogan over suspicion of rigging some public
city tenders during his term as the mayor of Ä°stanbul, outside
his jurisdictional powers, and referred the case to Prosecutor
IÅ~_ıkaltın, who indicted Erdogan.

IÅ~_ıkaltın had also filed a complaint against Yucel Sayman, a lawyer
representing the plaintiffs in the murder trial of Turkish-Armenian
Journalist Hrant Dink, who was gunned down in 2007 in an assassination
currently blamed on Ergenekon. IÅ~_ıkaltın’s complaint accused
Sayman of having insulted Kemal Kerincsiz, an ultra-nationalist lawyer
currently in jail as an Ergenekon suspect. IÅ~_ıkaltın demanded
one to two years in jail for Sayman, who was acquitted at the end of
the trial.

CHP’s Kart files complaint against Ergenekon prosecutors

Republican People’s Party (CHP) Konya Deputy Atilla Kart on Tuesday
filed a criminal complaint with the HSYK against the prosecutors on
the Ergenekon case, accusing them of conducting the investigation
under the influence of their own personal relations and also of
having violated the confidentiality of the probe. Justice Minister
Mehmet Ali Å~^ahin dismissed the allegations that the new prosecutors
were assigned to water down the trial. "We have to respect all our
prosecutors. It is disrespectful to draw distinctions between our
prosecutors," he said yesterday.

–Boundary_(ID_8U0YMz7qH76maBemXBiXlg) —

THEY DRAW IMMENSE PROFIT AND HIDE IT

Lragir.am
17:54:54 – 29/01/2009

In today’s meeting of government Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan
said he got a complaint from the people who rent stands at the Gold
Market. They complain of bad conditions, in winter it is cold, in
summer it is hot, for which they have to pay an immense rent for 1
square meter. Sanitation and security are unsatisfactory, meanwhile
there are major production facilities in the same building as
well. The prime minister says the owner of the market draws immense
profit but fails to create normal conditions for people to work,
telling lies that the government now has tougher demands. The prime
minister says the government did not make demands tougher for small
and midsize businesses but for the organizer of trade. If the owner
is unable to create normal conditions for work, others will be found
to offer similar services, and the tax service has revealed hundreds
of unregistered workers, he says. "This is a way of avoiding taxes,
and on the immense profit from the market they build elite houses,
mansions in Tsaghkadzor, meanwhile part of that profit should be
spent on creating normal conditions for thousands of small and
midsize business workers. This is what we demand. And we are going
to be consistent," he said.

ARMENIA LOOKED SET TO AVOID SANCTIONS BY THE PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY OF COUNCIL OF EUROPE

Regnum News Agency
Jan 27 2009
Russia

On January, 26 the Monitoring Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly
of Council of Europe (PACE) proposed during its closed session
not to suspend the voting rights of Armenia’s delegation to PACE,
a REGNUM correspondent reports citing the Second channel of Public
Armenian Television.

David Harutyunyan, the head of the Armenian delegation to PACE
mentioned that co-rapporteurs suggested to conduct further
serious monitoring concerning improvement of democracy situation
in the country, but not to suspend the voting right of the Armenian
delegation. According to him the main reason that served as a basis
for such decision, in particular, was that many of political detainees
had been released, as well as , the process of amendment of Articles
225 and 300 of the Criminal Code of Armenia, which many participants
of events were convict on, has started.

It is worth mentioning that on December, 17, 2008 the Monitoring
Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of Council of Europe (PACE),
examining the implementation of Assembly’s resolutions 1609 and
1620 adopted after the events of March, 1-2 and proposed to deprive
Armenian delegation right to vote. On January, 27 PACE will consider
Armenia’s issue during its plenary session.

PROTEST TO BE HELD IN FRONT OF RUSSIAN EMBASSY IN BAKU

Today.Az
0344.html
Jan 26 2009
Azerbaijan

The youth organization of the Aydinlar party will hold a protest near
the Russian embassy to Azerbaijan, according to the press service
for the party.

The statement says that the main purpose of the picket is to protest
against supply of Russian military hardware of a total of $800,000,000
to Armenia.

"Due to the conduction of the action the party has already sent a
letter to the Baku mayor’s office. In it the party urges the mayor’s
office to sanction the action. It is expected to involve about 30
activists of the party", says the statement.

During the action the participants will chant the following slogans:
"Respect the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan", "Stop arming
Armenia!" and so on.

Notably, the party is chaired by Gulamhuseyn Alibeyli.